In computer networking environments, each node on a network has one or more values associated with it. The values may be unique to a single node or common to several nodes. The values may be assigned. Assigning values to a particular node may occur in various ways.
An operator or network administrator may manually configure the node and assign a value, such as a network address. However, manual assignment is inefficient and may require specialized knowledge of the network's topology, administrative software, hardware configuration, network security, or other aspects of network administration. In addition, manual assignment is prone to operator error, which may have network-wide implications, particularly in enterprise-wide network systems. When considering the situation where each node is to be assigned multiple values, manual assignment becomes increasingly complex at the expense of stability, reliability, and efficiency.